Sucker-rod socket



A1l8- 5, 1929. A. H. NEILSON 1,723,433

SUCKER ROD SOCKET Filed Aug. 19, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mmm ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 6, 1929.

UNITED STATES yPATENT OFFICE.

ALpEnfr n. NEILSON, OF TULSA, OKLAHOMA.

SUCKER-ROD SOCKET.

Application led August 19, 1927. Serial No. 214,099.

Sucker rods of the character employed forv pumping Oil wells are sectional, with each section provided at one end with a coupling box and at the other end with a pin adapted yforthreaded connection with co-operating coupling members on other rod sections to form a string.

Because of heavy duty on the rods and occasionally due to conditions in a well, a rod will break or sections of it Abecome disconnected at a coupling. When this occurs itis necessary to remove the upper part of the string and fish for and remove the part remaining in the well. I f the rod has become disconnected at a coupling a tool adaptable for receiving and grasping the pin on the upper end of the lost portion of the string must be employed. If the `rod has broken,fthen a smaller tool for taking the rod is used. Attachment of the tool to the box or rod is effected through expansible slips having tapered fittings in a housing barrel, so that they may opento receive the box or 4rod and close thereonto ywhen the socketr is lifted. y n

While such' an arrangement is effective for finding and lifting the rod, there is a tendency of the slips to freeze o1` stick to their barrel when the load is heavy so that it becomes diiicult to separate the tool from the rody when the rod has been recovered. f

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a socket of the character described whichmay be adapted for receiving either a pin or rod when let into a well, which will securely hold the pin or rod during the lifting travel and which may be readily removed from the pin or rod when the rod is recovered. f f f In accomplishing this object, I have provided improved details of structure, the preferred forms of which areillustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of part of a well, illustrating a socket about to be applied to the pin of a lost section of sucker rod.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section l of the socket, showing the parts as they appear while the socket is being lowered in a well. y

Fig. 3 is a similar View illustrating application ofthe socket to the rod pin.

` Fig. 4 1s a similar view, showing the parts as they appear while the rod is being raised.

Fig. 5`is a similar view illustrating expansion of the slips to release 'the rod.

*.Fig. 6 is a cross section on the line 6 6, Fig. 2, showing the parts as they appear while the socket is being lowered in a well.

Fig. is a detail perspective view of the coupling plug.

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the slip cap and one of the slips.

y Referring more in detail to the drawings: 1 designates a well hole, 2 casing lining the hole and 3 tubing through which Oil is pumped from the Well by means of a pump (not shown) located in the well and operated by a sucker rod 4 in accordance with common practice.

The rod 4 is formed in sections, each equipped at its upper end with a pin 5 comprising an enlarged wrench head 6 and an upwardly extending threaded shank 7 adapted to be received in a threaded socket in a box on the lower end of an adjacent rod section (not shown). The complete rstructure comprising the wrench head and threaded shank is usually referred lto as the pin and such parts are intended when the term is used in the present description.

The socket, designated generally at 8, comprises a cylindrical barrel 9.0i an Outside diameter to permit its free passage through the tubingy 3y and of a reducing inside diameter forming a downwardly restricted, tapered bore or throat 10 terminating in a Hared mouth 11 for facilitating application of the socket to the loose end of arod standing in a well.

The upper end of the barrel is internally threaded at 12 for attachment to a coupling kplug 13, presently described,'and is prosoy ,in the collar 22 at the upper end of the slip seat and a shank 26 threaded through the channel 17 in the coupling plug 13, The end ot' the shank V26 projects beyond the plug 12 and attached to the projecting end ot the shank, preferably by a pin 28, is a collar 29, bearing a wrench face to which a tool may be applied for turning ythe collar on the screw andv in abutment with the end oit the coupling plug to shift the screw in the coupling plug for adjusting or opening the slips. The end of the scr w shank projects beyond the collar 29 tor attachment to the box 30 (Fig. 1), on the end of a rod 30 whereby the socket is let into and removed. from the well.

Slidably mounted on the screw shank 26 within the barrel 9 above the slips is a tollower 31, adapted :tor seating on the lips 21 of the slips and comprising a depending rim flange 32 adapted for projection into the slip seat 22 and an upstanding collar torming a spring seat 34. 35 designates an expansion spring which surrounds the screw shank with its lower end surrounding the follower collar and bearing against the seat f 34 and its upper end bearing inst the bottom of the coupling plug 13 to yieldingly retain the slips at the outer end or the barrel and in contracted relation.

Assuming the socket to be constructed and assembled as described and that it is to be employed for removing the part oi" a string of rods remaining in a well alter an accidental uncoupling ata joint, the operation is as follows:

The upper part ot the string or" rod sections is recovered from the well and the lower end of the recovered rod observed to determine the nature ot the break, her shown as a disconnection ot a box and pin, as from stripping of the coupling threads. A socket containing a set ot slips of a size to receive a pin is therefore attached to a rod section and let into the well, the spring 35 retaining the parts in the relation illustrated in Fig. 2. Then the socket reaches the lost rod section the mouth of the socket centers the rod and the pin is received within the socket as the latter is lowered.

back against the tension of the spring and open to receive the pin, the encompassing EIT s When Vthe slips move over the pin, they are forced movement continuing until the slips are spread back to contact with the barrel and the pin wedged between the slips. The socket is then lifted, the teeth on the slips gripping the pin and the slips being drawn down in the barrel by weight of the rod. As the slips move downwardly in the bar rel, the reverse taper ot the barrel and slips iorces the slips in against the pin to grip thepin firmly within the slips, the upwardly directed teeth on the slips biting into the pin to insure the holding relation. The letting in rod is then raised, lifting the lost socket rod. j

. Villien the upper` end of the lost rod section has been raised above the well head, a spider is applied to the rod and the socket recovered by driving the barrel down along the slips to spread the slips and relieve the rod. l

Should the slips freeze ror stick to the barrel so that they cannot be separated by ordinary methods, a wrench may be applied to the collar29 and the screw drawn up to elevate the slips and permit them to spread (F and relieve the pin.

Should separation of the rod be due to a reak between the ends of a rod section, a

ot slips of suiiiciently less interior diamete grip the rod is used instead of the set pin slips and the operation of inding, gripping and elevating the rod performed above described. vWhile restriction of thelower end of the barrel is suiiicient to prevent insertion and removal or loss'oi the slips through that ond of the barrel, ready access to the barrel chamber for insertion and removal olthe slips may be had fromthe upperend upon removal et the coupling plug.

lWha-t l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

-1. A socketof the character described including a barrel having a tapered inner wall at one end and a plug at the opposite end having a threaded 1 channel, slips in said barrel tapered reversely to the barreland having inturned end vflanges forming a channel, a screw threaded through the barrel plug, having ashank slidable in the slip channel and a head engageable with the slip flanges, a, follower Yon the shank engageable with the slips, a spring interposed between the barrel plug and follower to project the slips, and a nut fixed on the screw Jfor retracting the slips. j

2. A socket of the character described including a barrel having a tapered inner wall at one end and a plugat the opposite end seat7 a screw threaded through the plug channel having a shank slidable in the tollower and slip channel and a head engageable with the slip flanges, a spring surrounding the screw end engaging the barrel plug and follower to extend the slips, and a wrench receiving member fixed to the screw to retract the slips against the tension oit said spring.

3. A socket of the character described including a barrel having ports :for the relief of foreign mattei', and having a tapered in,- ner wall at one end and a plug at the opposite end having a threaded channel, slips in said barrel tapered reversely to the .barrel having inturned end flanges and outturned lips, forming an inner channel and outer seat at the end of the slip unit, a tollower having an outtuined rim flange projected into said seat, screw threaded through the plug channel having a shank slidable in the follower and slip channel and a head engageable with the slip flangesxa spring surrounding the screw and engaging the barrel plug and follower to extend the slips7 and a wrench receiving member fixed to the screw to retract the slips against the tension of said spring.

In. testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ALBERT H. NEILSON. 

